Redbirds Fall To Michigan State In Sunday Finale, 4-1

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Illinois State women's tennis team wrapped up its weekend in Michigan with a match against the host Michigan State Spartans, who came away with a 4-1 win over the Redbirds on Sunday afternoon at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center.

For the second day in a row for the Redbirds, the doubles point was decided by the third and final match. After Michigan State took the win at No. 1, Illinois State's No. 2 team of Alexandra Abyasova and Silvia Pomarolli defeated MSU's Nicole Conard and Marley Lambert 7-6 in a tiebreaker to knot things up. However, Michigan State pulled out 7-6 tiebreaker win at the No. 3 spot to secure the early doubles point. 

From there, the Spartans picked up wins at the No. 1, 4 and 5 spots to secure the 4-1 victory. The Redbirds' point came via Nevena Kolarevic at the No. 3 spots, as she defeated Nicole Conard 6-3, 6-4 for the win. Abysova and Elena Jankulovska were both in the third set of their respective matches when the match was secured.

The Redbirds hit the road again next weekend, as they face off against Austin Peay on Saturday in Clarksville, Tennessee, before heading to St. Louis to take on WashU for a Sunday doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.

FINAL SCORE: Michigan State (4), Illinois State (1)

Doubles: 
No. 1 Ayshe Can/Liisa Vehvilainen (MSU) def. Tara Damnjanovic/Tijana Zlatanovic (ILS) 6-2
No. 2 Alexandra Abyasova/Silvia Pomarolli (ILS) def. Nicole Conard/Marley Lambert (MSU) 7-6
No. 3 Juliette Nask/Dagmar Zdrubecka (MSU) def. Elena Jankulovska/Nevena Kolarevic (ILS) 7-6

Singles:
No. 1 Liisa Vehvilainen (MSU) def. Tijana Zlatanovic (ILS) 7-5, 6-2
No. 2 Ayshe Can (MSU) def. Alexandra Abyasova (ILS) 4-6, 6-3, 4-1 unfinished
No. 3 Nevena Kolarevic (ILS) def. Nicole Conard (MSU) 6-3, 6-4
No. 4 Marley Lambert (MSU) def. Tara Damnjanovic (ILS) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
No. 5 Juliette Nask (MSU) def. Silvia Pomarolli (ILS) 6-2, 6-3
No. 6 Issey Purser (MSU) def. Elena Jankulovska (ILS) 7-5, 3-6, 3-0 unfinished

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